The first mass contact of people with UFOs. The UFO Mystery at Westall, 1966

About 200 students of the school in Westall in Australia on April 6, 1966, observed in the sky an incomprehensible object of a mysterious shape, which was unsuccessfully pursued by 5 military aircraft. A key witness to the events of April 1966 was a high school teacher in Melbourne, Australia, Andrew Greenwood – he was the only adult among the "onlookers" who first saw a UFO and was not afraid to report it.

An eyewitness told about the strange details of the first mass meeting of humanity and aliens and the subsequent panic of the authorities. According to him, that day everything was, as usual, some children were in class, some students were engaged in sports in the schoolyard. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange object that looked like a saucer appeared above the school and hovered over the building.

This is one of the most widespread cases of UFO sightings. More than 200 students and faculty at Melbourne College witnessed the event.

Meeting students with UFOs in Australia

The children at the school were mesmerized by the UFO, and the teachers, frightened, ordered the children to stay where they were. They jumped to the fence and tried to run in the direction where the mysterious object landed. One of the students ran into the forest, where there was a UFO - later he was found unconscious, lying on the grass, and soon sent by ambulance to the hospital. After that, she never returned to school for classes. Eyewitnesses of the event claimed that the UFO moved and landed with great speed. Others said they saw 5 other objects nearby in the sky – apparently, they were military aircraft that were chasing the object.

The children were ordered to return to school and take their classes. After a while, the police appeared. From that moment on, strange things began to happen: the police interviewed several teachers and the head of the college. After that, the students were gathered and held a conversation on the topic of what happened. The students were told that what they saw was not an extraterrestrial ship and that they were observing an ordinary weather probe.

They were also told not to tell anyone about what had happened, especially the press. One of the teachers, who took a full ten minutes of video with a UFO, was taken to the side, where unknown people in suits took away his camera and said that it was now their property. They introduced themselves as agents of ASIO (Australian Intelligence Service). Later, employees of this organization visited the home of a computer science teacher and threatened that if he told anyone about what had happened, they would be forced to fire him and discredit him by spreading rumors that he was an alcoholic.

Unofficial investigations and press reaction to the UFO incident

This UFO incident was investigated by the following organizations, dealing with the UFO phenomenon: VFSRS and PRA. Both groups later stated that the case was one of the most significant in the history of ufology in Australia. A group of researchers from the VFSRS arrived on the college grounds on April 8. After the ufologists interviewed the students, an inspection of the territory was conducted.

The military also took part in the investigation – investigator Brian Boyle arrived at the scene of the event on April 9 and also conducted interviews with students. Later, a photo report of the piece of land where the UFO landed was included in the official report of the group. It clearly shows that the grass at the landing site is neatly crushed to the ground in an even circle.

The press reaction to the incident was minimal. Dandenong magazine interviewed everyone who agreed to give it. Later, all their testimonies were published on the front page.

The reporters also sent requests to the aviation service, but the response was that no aircraft were registered in the area at that time, although two hundred people saw them. Channel 9 GTV also reported on the incident, but when ufologists wanted to learn more about the film's materials, it turned out that they were permanently removed from the archives, although the channel always kept its records for several years.

Logical explanation

Despite the fact that federal agencies did not want to comment on this incident, there are publicly available documents published in 2014 that help form the official position of the incident

The documents describe a secret radiation testing project known as the HIBAL program, a joint Australian – American initiative from 1960-1969. The purpose of the program was to monitor the level of radiation in the atmosphere with the help of large silver balloons equipped with sensors. Each balloon carried 180 kg of cargo and was accompanied by a light aircraft, whose task was to track the balloon and open its 12-meter parachute on a radio signal.

Researcher Keith Basterfield, who has studied documents from the National Archives and the former Department of Supply, believes the mysterious flying objects may have been testing balloons that went off course after being launched at Mildura.

My hypothesis is that people saw not a UFO, but a high-flying balloon, its parachute and cargo

he says for News Corp:

The Westall object was described as having a white / silver color, which fits the description of a balloon or parachute from the HIBAL program.

Having thoroughly examined all available documents, including those found through the Freedom of Information Act, Mr Basterfield believes that the real cause of the problem was HIBAL flight number 292.

However, he admits that he cannot confirm his theory because the launch schedule logs for the day before the Westall incident were lost or destroyed.

There are very few records of the actual four launches in April 1966, one of which was scheduled for April 5, the day before Westall,"

he says:

So we have no official knowledge of how flight number 292 ended. When asked about the version of the balls, the researcher Mr. Ryan expresses doubt.

Obviously, the UFO incident in Australia is inscribed with golden threads in the history of UFO sightings. The reluctance of the official authorities to give detailed comments is also quite understandable. One thing is for sure, the number of witnesses is enormous! They saw what they told us, and you can't argue with that fact.

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About author:

Serg Toporkov Ufologist, Ph.D., blogger, I go on my own expeditions for UFOs. I use scientific methods to investigate the UAP phenomenon. Write to me

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UFO  contact  1966  mystery  Westall  Australia  Melbourne